When it All Falls Apart
by dontdofauxpas
Summary: Keely is everything but close to her five year old daughter Bailey, and can't accept her at all. Will it take a tradgedy to bring them together
1. Forget You Love Me

A/N: Well my story has a lot to do with how mean Keely is in the beginning, but don't worry and please don't say I 'killed her' she's OOC in the beginning, but TRUST me she gets better. And NO FLAMES, dude.

XOXO,

Rach

A wise man once said, life is not what you have, but what you get out of it. Which may be what kept Keely Teslow going all this time. Forget that when the love of her life left for another century, that she went into such a state, that the only thing to fix her sorrow was relations with other guys.

After Bruno Longfellow's many propositions of liaisons, Keely always rejected and told him that she couldn't because she liked someone else. Once Phil was gone, she still rejected him. Until one day as a senior, she finally decided to go out with him.

They had a very "The Notebook" style relationship, one that rarely included talking. She thought their relationship was only to take out her frustrations about Phil. Or that was until Bruno took it a step farther…

Which continued to happen, without protest from Keely. She let it happen until one day, when they got Bailey.

Of course, Bruno was only in it for the reason they got Bailey, at least that's how he made it seem. So as soon as Bailey was born, he was out of there. He calls once and a while now that Bailey's older, but he rarely does anything else. Bailey's gone five years believing that love doesn't really exist. Her mother works non-stop at the TV station to not think about Phil, Bruno, or Bailey. Bailey spends all of her time with nannies or with the maids. She's in therapy four times a week, and spends most of her time quietly.

How could someone only five years old be so messed up as someone say twenty years old? Some blame Keely, others blame Bruno, but yet there are the few that blame Phil.

If the only thing that could bring these estranged girls together is a natural disaster, what does that say about them? Who knows. They may even have to wait and see…

The dark gloomy clouds loomed over Pickford, California that day. Yet another lonely day for Keely and Bailey Teslow. Bailey waited by the door in her Pickford Academy uniform while Keely came rushing past.

"Mom…I'm gonna be late again…" Bailey said.

"No, you won't!" Keely said, grabbing her Gucci bag and escorting Bailey out the door with it, "The driver will take you to school, and then he'll be by to pick you up at two."

"But Mom you promised you'd talk to my class today about what you do,"

"Well I'm busy today, doing what I do. I can't."

"But you said— "

"I know what I said, but sometimes people don't always pay attention to things. That's how I ended up with you remember."

"Yeah. The only thing worse than me is buying the bad stock last week."

"Yes."

The driver walked up to the door, and opened for them. Keely strode down the walk way in her snake skin pumps, while Bailey hung back.

She sighed as she watched her.

"A little down, Miss?" asked the driver.

"No…" Bailey said.

"I don't quite believe that, Miss. She doesn't mean that…"

"It's ok, but she really does. My dad didn't love her. And he doesn't love me. So it's ok that my mom doesn't love me. I mean, 'cause no one loves her."

"It's alright, Miss, you know the staff loves you."

"I know. Thanks."

"Anytime."

Bailey nodded as she followed the driver out to the driveway. Keely's black corvette was already gone. Bailey shook her head, as pretty as her mom was on the outside, she wasn't very pretty on the inside. But Bailey knew she must be, maybe really deep down, she knew she must be.

Keely's black shiny corvette screeched into the TV station parking lot. She slammed her car door, as pulled her leather gloves off and briskly walked into the studio.

"Keely!" A stressed out dark haired woman said.

"Yes, Anna?"

"There's a big story at city hall, another at the Friar Pickford statue, and one at Pickford Academy…"

"Pickford Academy?"

"Yeah, they're having a career day and the President is going to be there."

"Really? Wow, Bailey was annoying me about going."

"But it's a parent career day, and you're not her mother…"

"Yeah but I'm the only family she has."

"So go, she'd be happy."

"Hmmm. I think I'll take the statue."

Ok review! Tell me what you think! And no flames!!!!!


	2. Your Inner Light Fades From Her Words

Blonde haired Bailey slid into her seat in her Pickford Academy kindergarten class. She was the only one sitting in at her seat, everyone else was standing to the side of the class room with their parents. She sat and watched all of the kid's go up and talk about their parent's and how great there were. Bailey wanted to cry. She wished she could go up and talk about Keely and say how great she is. Well, she is great, I mean her name is known nation wide and she's the most gorgeous news caster in history, she just wished her personality matched.

"Next is Miss Bailey Teslow." said her teacher.

"Ms. Larson, my mom couldn't make it today."

"Well, you can come up and talk about her then."

"Ok."  
Bailey walked to the front of the room and stood there, she cleared her throat and began, "My mom is a newscaster for channel seven. She gets to talk to many important people and report the newest stories. My mom always has to be in the latest most expensive clothes so people watch her instead of the other people. My mom is very important and she is the best news caster." Bailey started to head back to her desk; but her teacher stopped her.

"Bailey, how is your mom's personality something you admire?"

"Well…" Bailey paused, "I…think she handles her job very seriously…"

"And do you admire that…?"

"Yeah…"

"Alright then, thank you Miss Teslow."

Bailey nodded and headed back to her desk.

Back at Channel Seven news station, Keely was preparing to go to the Friar Pickford statue when the secretary came bursting into the make-up room.

"Madison took the P.A. assignment."

"Oh, that's good. I really didn't feel like going down there today."

"Maddie'll take care of it, Keely. Don't worry, I'm sure your sister will be ok, and won't be mad at you."

"Oh, yeah…right."

"Bailey, on your career project, you received an A- for your lack of parent, but that's still great."

"Hey! Bai-layy!" Madison said opening her classroom door followed by a camera crew.

"Madday!" Bailey said excitedly as she ran to hug him, "Ms. Larson this is my mom's business partner Madison Lerrings."

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Lerrings. I always assumed Madison was a female name…"

"Well, it wasn't back in the 80's."

"Good point. So Miss Teslow tell us a bit about Mr. Lerrings."  
"Ok, well, Maddie works with my mom and they handle Pickford's biggest stories. Or as my mom likes to say, 'the run down ghost town's' biggest stories."

"Uhhh…Keely isn't really into town spirit, she love Pickford."

"No Maddie, she says it's a wasteland of sh— " Maddie covered her mouth with his hand.

"Sh…schpecial people." He smiles.

"Ok, ok, ok. You can stop worrying now, Keely Teslow is here." Keely said hitting Maddie with the door.

"Keely Teslow is it true you hate Pickford and everything about it?" Asked Ms. Larson.

"No…I don't…I…"

"Well according to Miss Bailey, you do."

Keely shot Bailey a look so evil that if looks could kill, Bailey'd be grilled, fried, and served as lunch.

"Well she doesn't know what she's talking about." Keely said through a gritted teeth smile.

"Hey, Keely, just chill. She's only five— " Maddie said

"Being five is no excuse for being a despicable imbecile."

"Yeah…she's five. Look, you can't be so heartless to her all the time."

"Don't tell me what I can and can't say to her!"

"Bailey, come on."

Keely looked down, and Bailey was gone.

"Oh great you did it now!" Maddie said as they both turned and ran out in the hallway to look for her.

She didn't go far, she was just down the hall a ways.

"Bailey Grace Teslow!" Keely said.

Bailey wouldn't look at her.

"Come on, we're going back to the studio. Maddie, you take the statue."

"Aye-aye. Watch out, Bailayyy."

"Thanks, Maddayy." Bailey said.

Keely took Bailey's hand and they walked to her car.

Keely didn't waste a second before she started reprimanding Bailey about keeping Keely's thoughts about the town quiet.

"I could lose my job! If any number of people in the town stop watching me because of my feelings about Pickford, I'm going to get fired!"

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well don't let it happen again."

Bailey nodded. Yes, _really _deep down her mother was nice.


	3. Live In Fear, Love In Hate

Bailey came in the studio long before her mother, she was really getting sick of being treated like the gum on Keely's shoe. She sat in one of the chairs and crossed her arms. She wanted to be sad, but she couldn't. She had way more things to be angry about. Her mother refused to even show her face at her career day, she practically threw her out of the car for mentioning how much Keely hates Pickford, and now she was extremely furious at herself for existing.

Maddie came in a few minutes later, he almost kept going, but then he noticed Bailey.

"Hey, Bai."

She waited a while, then replied. "Hey."

"Look, I'm sorry I kind of messed things up with you and your mom today."

"No, it's not your fault. It's mine."

"How?"

"Because she and my dad hate each other and it's my fault."

"What? How is it _your _fault?"

"Because they liked each other until they had me."

"Bailey, your parents had less feelings for each other than that plant does for me," Maddie said, pointing to a potted fern.

"Really? She told me she loved him…and I broke them up…"

"Bailey, you were two months old, even making your best effort, you couldn't have broken them up."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes…"

"I can't believe she lied to me! She _always _lies to me! I can't believe her!"

"She probably just said it to protect you, not everyone wants to find out their parents didn't really care about each other…"

"It's no big deal, no one cares about anyone in my family."

"What…? Oh come on, the driver loves you, the maids love you, I love you…"

"Well, of course you do Maddie, your like my daddy…"

"Yeah, it does feel like it, huh. I mean your mom's worked with me your whole life and— "

"So you are my dad?"

"Not exactly, Bai…I— "

"You are, I knew it! Yay. Now I have at least one good parent."

"Uh, Bai— "

"Hey Bailey, they have crepes in the lounge, you interested?" Asked Anna.

"Yeah!" she jumped out of her chair, "See ya dad."

Bailey made her way down the hall as Anna said, "Talk to Keely." then followed Bailey.

Keely stormed in the studio still in a rage. She threw her things down at her desk and paced around her desk.

Maddie came in after her. "Hey, I followed you, sorry, but you were driving kind of fast."

"Madison. I don't want you following me, I'm fine."

"I don't think you are. And I think you over reacted to Bailey…"

"I did not! I could have lost my job!"

"Keely, come on, not only are you the best reporter, but you're also the most gorgeous. You'd never get fired."

"Don't side with her! She's five years old, I decide what goes on, _not _you."

"Hey, look, I'm just trying to help the kid out, I mean she thinks you don't love her."

"What…"

"Yeah she said— "

"No, I understand why she thinks it, but not why she told _you_."  
"She's thinks I'm her dad, Keely."

"What? I told her her dad was a football headed jerk, and she's seen him in pictures…why does she think it's _you_?"  
"I think she wants to think that. Who wants their dad to be some loser?"

"It must run in the family. Mine was."

"Really?"

"Yeah. A gambler, and a liar. He was in debt so much, one day he just disappeared."

"Is that why you take it out on Bailey?"

"No." Keely snapped, "I take it out on Bailey because I hate that Bruno isn't here. I hate that he never really cared about me. The only one that did left. And he's practically in another universe."

"You know that's no excuse to make Bailey feel like she did something wrong everyday of her life."

"You don't know what it's like, Maddie." Keely said beginning to cry, "She's a constant reminder that I'm a screw-up. A screw up and an idiot who falls for the wrong guy, just like my mother."

"Keely…"

"Just…stop it, ok? You don't have control over Bailey, and you never will."

Keely left her office in tears.

Maddie didn't really know what else to do. He didn't know standing up for Bailey would make her that mad. He wanted to follow her. He wanted to tell her that he loved her. But he hated her for hating Bailey. His feelings were having a war, and the wrong one won. Before he knew what he was doing he was running after Keely.

"Keely!"

"What!" She snapped.

"I…I love you."

"You wh— " He kissed her. She couldn't believe this was happening. Maddie? She'd worked with Maddie forever. She couldn't believe he felt that way about her. She didn't know if she felt that way about him…

Now her feelings were at war, and again the wrong one was victorious.

She broke the kiss and said, "I…I love you too."

Boy, _that _was the wrong decision. I'm talking saying bomb in an airport, making a leaf blanket out of poison ivy. Because what happened next was…less than office appropriate.

Maddie slammed her against the wall and the next thing was to not have the entire office watching them, without thinking about it, they moved into her office and he threw her on the desk.

Out in the lounge Bailey was playing with the coffee machine and Anna was watching her.

"Bailey?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever wonder about your mom?"

Bailey gave her a strange look and laughed, "You mean why she's so mean? All the time."

"What? I thought you didn't know your mom…?"

Bailey laughed again, "What are you talking about? I know my mom, and so do you…have you been spending too much time at the office parties near the schnapps, Anna?"

"Wait…what's your mom's name?"

"Keely Teslow…Anna."

"But she told me she was your sister."

"Of course she did." Bailey said with sheer disappointment in her voice.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know…"

"It's ok. I'm used to it."

Back in Keely's office, Keely was throwing Maddie's clothes at him.

"I can't believe we just did that. It's like you take the one thing I thought would never happen, and put it together with the one thing that never should have happened! You _knew _I was upset, and that I do love you, Maddie, but as a friend or cousin…which is really disgusting considering…but that was totally not attached to any deeper feelings Madison Lerrings."

"Yeah…I totally agree. Forgive me for acting on a feeling…"

"Wait…so you weren't caught in the moment…"

"No…"

"Damn. Great. This is _just _what I need. _Another _person who will resent me because I don't love them, how many people am I supposed to love anyway? You know, what even is love?"

"When you're willing to put yourself on the line for someone. Y'know put yourself in danger so they'll be ok. Something Bailey does for you everyday. Risks you getting mad at her, and doesn't really let it phase her. I'm telling you, she's five going forty."

"Wait…my five year old knows what love is, but I don't…"

"No. You don't because you lost it, you had it with that guy from Kansas, and since you lost him, you lost all hope of ever loving someone ever again."

"How…"

"I don't know…but you did."

"Maddie…"

"Yeah?"

"Did I wreck her?"

"I don't know. Thankfully, she's only five, and there may still be time for damage control. But come on, she's in therapy four times a week."

"Well!" Keely said, "She has a lot of problems."

"And who's fault is that? Hmm? Mandy's?"

"No!" Keely shouted, "I don't know…"

"Keely, if you put the blame on everyone else, she thinks you're the innocent party here and not her."

"Hey! Ok, she's not the one who the only person she really cared about just LEFT her. And didn't care what it did to her!"

"Do you hear yourself? You're doing the _exact _same thing to her! She only cares about _you _and _you're _acting like she's garbage! It's not _her _fault that Kansas guy left you! And it's not yours either! It's not even his! He had to leave. And you blame Bailey! Bailey's not even his kid! What the hell does she have to do with any of it, Keel? You're looking for someone to take all of this out on, and you picked the wrong one."

"It hurts me, because she should be Phil's. I should have never had anything to do with Bruno. And she's a constant reminder of that huge mistake!"

"That's not her fault! She didn't choose you and Football brain! If she had the choice I doubt she'd have picked you!"

"I wish she hadn't! I wish she wasn't born, I wish I could take it all back to before I even met Phil…I'd be so much better off…"

"Maybe you would. Maybe you'd be a lot happier. But you have to fix things with Bailey before it's too late. She stands up for you. She defends you for treating her like garbage. And the more you do it, the more she defends you. Why is that? If I were her, hell I'd say, she's a bitch. But she loves you. I don't know why, I don't know why I love you either. You have a charismatic lovely side in there somewhere. Although you buried it under barbed wire and concrete, it's there."

"I used to be that way all the time…but then Phil left…and I just, I never wanted to smile again. Or laugh. Or anything. Bailey made me smile once. When she was two. She walked around and found my sunglasses and put them on. They were my Chanel's so they were just huge on her, and I had to laugh because she looked so silly with them on," Keely paused in memory, and she was smiling. "But after that, I realized something made me happy. And I hated that someone from someone I hated so much for leaving me with her that I just decided she was never going to make me happy again."

"But that's insane…"

"No, it's hurt on top of hurt on top of hurt. Which makes you do crazy things."

"Keely, I'll say it again. If you're going to hate anyone, hate Bruno. She didn't make you two have sex, she didn't make herself be born, she didn't do any of it. That was all you. You don't want to blame just yourself for everything, so you blame it on her— "

"Would you just shut the hell up? You don't know what it's like! And you never will."

"What? Having your heart ripped out and hearing, 'I didn't just have sex with you because I have any kind of feelings for you, Maddie.' Uh, yeah I think I do."

"Wait…so you actually love me? But…why?"

"Honestly? I don't know. I wish I didn't. After all the things I told you that you didn't know Bailey did, after knowing somehow she likes you, despite the stuff you say to her, that didn't phase you or hit a nerve at all. You know what Keely, you're damn cold. And I pitty the poor bastard that ends up with you. You're incapable of loving anyone or being loved by anyone and it's your own damn fault."

He left the room in what seemed like a red cloud of anger. Keely just stood there. No, nothing he said before that hit a nerve, but what he just said sure did. She couldn't believe it. No one had ever come right out and said that, she knew they thought it. She was a cold hearted bitch to everyone, nannies, maids, caterers, other people in the studio, random people who asked her for things. But no one, but Maddie, had ever called her that. Keely was still in shock. She couldn't believe it. She walked out of her office and saw Maddie sitting in one of the chairs with his head in his hands.

"Maddie— "

"Look, **don't **talk to me, right now." he said sharply.

Keely's eyes teared up, "I…I'm…Sor— "

"Look, I know calling you damn cold wasn't the right thing to do, but I was just getting sick of it. All your heartlessness, and— I can't talk about it with you right now, or I might do something I regret…"  
Keely nodded, tears falling down her cheecks. She was about to walk through the doorway when she stopped, and said, "I want you to know, you're actually the— "

The earth shook rattling the windows, the walls, everything. It shook with such mighty strength Keely grabbed hold of the wall.

"What's happening!" She screamed.

Maddie jumped up and stood with her in the doorway, "It's an earth quake! And it's not a small one!"

The building started falling apart pieces of the roof caved in and fell around them, screams filled the building. Long flourecent lights' cords snapped and then fell to the ground shattering and sending sparks everywhere.


End file.
